The Truth About Fat

Heeey everyone! Glad ya’ll liked my last post!!! 😀

Not much has been going on here….mostly just school. Last night mom made potato soup (yum) and I  made some rolls to go with it! The recipe is on my recipe page, and if you want quick, hard-to-mess-up rolls, then they are for you!! I did learn that actually letting them rise the full amount of time instead of rushing them really improves the flavor and texture, for some reason….hmm wonder why? 😛

I also tried a new 10 minute workout! Instead of my normal 10 minute jump rope, I did 10 minutes of cardio ballroom dance! It was off the Dance with Julianne Cardio Ballroom DVD, and I did the cha-cha! It was pretty fun! 😀

Anyway, by now ya’ll are probably wondering about the title of this post. Weeell, I have a little surprise for ya! Kathleen from Kat’s Health Corner wrote a guest post for this ol’ blog! Soo, without further ado, here it is:

Hello Fit Chocoholic readers!!! My name is Kathleen and I write this pretty sweet blog called Kat’s Health Corner. I love Gen’s Blog SO much! I am honored to be writing a guest post for Gen today, but FIRST let me introduce myself a little more!

I absolutely LOVE to workout, bake, AND especially blog. 

In my life one of the things I strive for is BALANCE: balance WITH myself, balance WITH life, and WITH the way I eat.

One vital part of the balance with the way I eat is making sure to eat a balance in nutrients. But, one of the hard nutrients I’ve had with balancing in my diet is Fat.

FAT. Yes, you heard that right. I said that F-word: Fat.

Fat has such a bad rap.

Some people predetermine the misconception that eating fat makes you fat. That is NOT necessarily true.

I know from personal experience the importance of fat in our body’s health and well being. A while back, I thought that FAT was EVIL, since that was what I would hear from the media, magazines, and ads. CUT THE FAT. Buy LOW FAT. Eat FAT FREE.

As a result, I started cutting fat out of my diet. My Hair, Skin, and Nails really paid the price for this. My hair lost its softness and glow and became dry and dull; my skin went from smooth and vibrant to rough and dry, and my nails lost their strength and became soft and bendy.

Not only did I see the changes in my hair, skin, and nails, but I noticed I had become significantly tired, moody, and weak. This was not good.

I came to the conclusion of what I needed to do.

I needed to develop a healthy relationship with fat.

Fat plays a HUGE role in our health. It is essential for the hormone processes in our body, the absorption of the vitamins A, D, E, and K. Fat is essential! Fat is essential to our hair, nails, and skin’s health and glow.

We know that fat is imperative, but does the type of fat matter?

Yes. The kinds of fat we eat matter, too. In all, there are four types of fat.

First, there are the mighty Monounsaturated fats, found in nuts, nut oils (like walnut oil), olives, olive oil, and avocados (this is not an exclusive list). One of my favorite sources of monounsaturated fat is ALMOND BUTTER!

Me and Almond Butter; LUV at first sight! 

Second, there are the powerful Polyunsaturated fats (foods high in polyunsaturated fats are rich in omega-3 fatty acids), like those found in sunflower seeds, hemp seeds, sesame seeds, fish, walnuts, brazil nuts, canola oil, and PEANUT BUTTER! (this is not an exclusive list)

Peanut Butter Love!  Straight from a spoon is the best way to eat it. 😉

Then, there are the Saturated fats, which come from plant sources (like coconut, coconut oil, and chocolate), and animal sources (like fatty- meats, egg-yolks, and full-fat dairy products). They are also found in many prepared foods. The USDA recommends that we limit our intake of Saturated fats in favor of the Mono- and Poly-unsaturated ones. But remember, Dark Chocolate IS good for you (in moderation of course)!

And finally, the terrible Trans fats. AVOID TRANS FATS LIKE THE PLAGUE!!!! They are chemically altered to where our body can’t recognize them as “real” and doesn’t know how to handle them, so our body just stores it in our hips and our stomach. In several studies, Trans Fats are shown to contribute to Alzheimer’s disease, Cancer, Diabetes, Obesity, Liver Dysfunction, Infertility, and Depression.

Don’t trust the Nutritional Labels – make sure to check the Ingredient Lists. Don’t buy anything with fully or partially hydrogenated oils in it – those are TRANS FATS!

We know why fat is important and what the types of fat are. Does the amount we eat make a difference?

Yes. Fat is essential for the hormone processes in our body, the absorption of some vitamins, and the health of our hair, skin and nails (not an exclusive list). Talk to a registered Dietician to see how much is appropriate for you, or check out mypyramid.gov to get a personalized plan. Everyone’s body is different, so therefore, we each need different amounts.

One thing I would stress is to focus on the Omega 3’s and 6’s.

These are the ones our body CANNOT produce. Some of the foods where these can be found include walnuts, flaxseed, avocados, eggs, salmon, sardines, and tuna. You can also use Fish Oil tablets (if you are not vegetarian), and they even have Vegan “Fish” Oil tablets, which contain the Omegas straight from the plants where fish get them from.

One of the most important things I have learned on my journey for balance is that every nutrient is imperative – calorie, FAT, carbohydrate, protein, water, vitamin, mineral, photochemical – to our overall health.

If I have an imbalance in just one of these nutrients, it wreaks havoc in my entire body. I now strive to feed my body the nutrients it needs—to live in balance—to live in balance with fat.

Kay, that’s it from me my lovelies- I love to meet new people, so be sure to drop by, check me out, and get to know the Kat behind Kat’s Health Corner!!

Questions of the Day (KHC Style!):

How do you view fat?
What are your favorite sources of fat?
What is your favorite nut butter?

Awesome post! Thanks Kat!!! 😀 I’ll go ahead and answer the questions.

1. Fat is definitely the nutrient that I have to work hardest to get, especially living here. There isn’t a lot of fried food, and minimal fat is used while cooking. Which just means that I get to eat lots of peanut butter. Not a bad thing. Especially if there is chocolate invloved.

2. My favorite sources of fat would be nut butter (shocking, huh?), avocado (which we almost never get because I’m the only one that likes them), fish (hello omega-3 fats) and nuts.

3. Favorite nut butter would have to be Dark Chocolate Dreams. I actually haven’t gotten around to trying either almond or cashew butter, but I plan to make both at some point. 😀

Thanks again, Kat, for the wonderful post!!!

Hope you all have a great day!!!!!